Hot air circulating attachment for heaters



Oct. 6, 1942. c. E. BAZLEY 2,298,028

HOT AIR CIRCULATING ATTACHMENT FOR HEATERS Filed June 27, 1940 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Oct. 6, 1942 UlNlTED STATES PATENTTOEFFIGE HOT AIR CIRCULATING ATTACHMENT FOR HEATERS Carl E. Bazley, Auburn, N. Y. 7

Application June 27, 1940, Serial No. 342,770

1 Claim.

This invention relates to heating apparatus and particularly to means for distributing the air of a hot air heater or furnace among the hot air pipes leading from the heating chamber of the casing of the furnace, which means may be applied, as a unit, to the furnace, or the heated air chamber thereof, by merely cutting a hole in the top wall of the chamber centrally thereof and placing the unit on the top of the chamber with the fan of the unit depending through the hole into the chamber.

It further has for its object means, as a baffle plate or'deflector, which may be readily installed, when desired, in position to direct a required amount of heated air to a certain hot air pipe,

which otherwise does not receive a sufiicient amount of air or sufficient pressure to move the air through that hot air pipe, or to prevent undue gyroscopic action of the air, which bafllemeans is applied to the chamber through the central opening and is supported from the margin of the wall around the central opening.

It further has for its object a construction by which a circulating unit may be applied to the top wall of'the heating chamber without being secured thereto but on the contrary so mounted as to be balanced on the margins of the wall around the central opening.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing in which like characters designates corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a hot air heater or furnace provided with this invention.

Figure 2 is an elevation of the circulating unit looking to the right in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the frame and the distributing unit.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the furnace, the air circulating unit being removed.

I designates a heater; 2 the outer casing, and 3 the hot air chamber of the casing, from which extends the ,hot air pipes 4 leading to the rooms to be heated. The furnace and the casing may be of any well known construction.

5 designates the circulating or distributing unit, which is applied to the chamber 3, as a unit, and preferably without the use of fastening means. This unit consists of a suitable frame including a base 6 and a bracket I extending upwardly from one edge of the base, an electric motor 8 supported from the bracket, with its Cal shaft 9' vertical, a centrifugal fan I0 :below the base, and a shaft II connecting the fan II] to the shaft 9, as through any suitable coupling, at I2, the shaft II extending centrally through and having a bearing in the base 5. The centrifugal fan is arranged with its inlet presented downwardly, and is of considerably less diameter than the heater I, so that the air is drawn upwardly .through the casing of the heater I and the heated air drawn into the center of the fan and thrown centrifugally outwardly with sufficient pressure to distribute it among the pipes 4 and keep it moving in the pipes 4. Hence, the cold air does not mix with the warm air being thrown by the fan through the pipes 4.

The unit is so mounted on the top wall I3 of the chamber 3, that it is balanced, and no means is required to secure it to the top wall I3. The top wall I3 is provided with a central opening M of comparatively small diameter but of sufficient diameter to permit the centrifugal fan I0 to be inserted therethrough, and the base 6 is supported from the margin of the top wall around the opening I4. It is here shown as so supported by a plate I5, usually of an asbestos material, suificiently large to rest on the margin of the wall around the opening M, as seen in Figure l. Preferably a pad I6 of resilient material as sponge rubber is interposed between the base 6 and the plate I5. The plate I5 and the pad I6 are formed with central openings for the shaft II and are applied to the shaft II before the shaft H is coupled to the motor shaft 9 or before the fan is secured to the shaft II, although they may be applied to the shaft I I in any other manner.

For facilitating the balancing, the base is provided with converging side edges I8 which converge toward the edge of the base remote from the bracket 1, so that the base has something analogous to a three-point mounting. Thus, the unit may be applied to the top wall of the casing I3 by cutting the hole I4 and then manipulating the unit with the plate I5 and pad I6 thereon in such a manner that the fan I0 passes through the opening I4 and the plate I5 rests on the margins of the wall around the opening I4.

oftentimes, because of the length and the angle of one or more hot air pipes, special means is provided for distributing the air to such pipes, and also in some instances, it is desirable to prevent a gyroscopic action of the air being thrown by the fan I9. In order to distribute the air to such pipe or pipes that do not otherwise receive its proper share, or break up the gyroscopic action, a baffle I9 may be provided located to direct more air into a certain pipe or located merely to break up the gyroscopic action. The feature of this baflle is that it is also applied to the furnace or the air chamber 3 through the opening l4 and supported from the margin of the wall around said opening.

As here shown, the bafile I9 is provided with a fiat hook or bill 20 at the inner end thereof which provides a slot at 2|, and in applying the baflle to the top wall l3 of the chamber 3, the bafile is inserted through the opening l4 and the bafile manipulated, so that the margin of the wall around the opening passes into the slot 2| with the bill or hook 20 overlying the upper side of the margins, where it may be secured in position in any suitable manner, as by a set screw 22. By this arrangement the baflie can be located in any radial angle or any radial position.

By this unit and the use of a fan of small diameter located as set forth, a small motor extremely economical in the use of electric power may be used and the warm air distributed evenly to better advantage with a circulating fan of the vane type.

The motor is controlled by any suitable thermostatic means not forming part of this invention, but briefly, the thermostatic element is controlled by the temperature of the heated air being discharged from the chamber 3 into the pipes 4, and when a predetermined high temperature of the air is reached, the thermostatic control closes a circuit through the motor and causes the motor to run and when the temperature falls below this predetermined high point, the motor stops. For instance, assume that the temperature desired in the rooms of a dwelling is 68 F., the thermostat may be set for a temperature of approximately in the chamber 3, and when the temperature in the chamber 3 reaches 125, the motor 8 will be energized and when it drops below that temperature, the motor will stop. The control of the drafts either by a thermostat or by hand may be controlled in any suitable manner.

What I claim is:

The combination with a heater having the usual outer casing surrounding it and formed with the usual hot air chamber at the top thereof above the heater from the peripheral wall of which chamber the hot air pipes lead; of the top wall of said chamber being formed with a central opening, and means for distributing the air among said pipes comprising a unit including a frame, an electric motor carried by the frame and arranged with its shaft vertical, a fan located in the chamber and placeable therein through said opening, a shaft connecting the fan and the motor shaft, said frame being carried by the margins of the wall aroundsaid opening and the unit being arranged to balance in vertical position, a baffle plate insertable into the chamber through said opening and having means for supporting it from the margin of the wall around said opening in position to extend substantially radially of the chamber. I

CARL E. BAZLEY. 

